


midnight rendezvous

by byunderella



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Bachelor Party, Drinking, First Meetings, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Las Vegas, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Romance, reckless drunks!2park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-21 01:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17033980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byunderella/pseuds/byunderella
Summary: Jihoon finally meets Woojin for the first time at Jisung's bachelor party in Vegas. He remembers the drinking, the flirting, the kiss. It was a pleasant surprise and an unforgettable night.Too bad he doesn't remember the wedding.





	midnight rendezvous

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wonderstruckxxx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderstruckxxx/gifts).



> hi raine, i tweaked and added a few things to the prompt, but i hope you still enjoy it :)
> 
>  
> 
> disclaimer: i don't live in nevada or anywhere even close so my knowledge on anything pertaining to the state is unreliable (as is anything related to occupations)

 

 

i.

 

Saturday night, bachelor party. Drinking, laughing, dancing, loud music. It’s a cloud of haze, nothing after his first drink is clear in the slightest to Jihoon. The only thing that’s apparent is the throbbing pain in his head as he’s sitting up in his bed, his room in a disarray around him. He’d forgotten just how bad his hangovers got, being immensely thankful at the reminder that it’s his day off.

It takes him a full two hours to get through his morning routine, finally washing the stench of alcohol off of him and slipping on clean clothes. There’s no food in the fridge when he opens it, just half a carton of milk and a few yogurt cups. As much as he hates leaving his house in this state of just  _complete_ discombobulation, the severe need for his stomach to consume anything that isn’t dairy right now is what drives his feet out of his apartment and down to the nearest café for brunch.

The walk there is mostly spent in an unsettling effort to unravel the events of last night. He’d obviously managed to get home in one piece, but only having small bits and fragments of his memory still intact from the party doesn’t sit well in his stomach. Jihoon is a reckless drunk; everyone who has gone drinking with him before knows this. Being a lightweight never really stopped him from drinking more than he could handle, and more often than not he’d wake up with plenty of regrets and a mountain of damage to be undone.

As he’s ordering his food, the first recollection of the night comes to him with the faint scent of coconut and egg tarts wafting from the front counter of the store. His long-time friend Jisung had invited him to his bachelor party, where he’d gotten to catch up with a lot of other friends he hadn’t seen for a quiet a while. The first half of the night was spent at Jisung’s apartment, in the older’s effort to look sophisticated and classy before they moved on to the  _wilder_ part of the night.

Guanlin had greeted him first, the kid who he remembers had trailed behind him as a freshman during his senior year, after he’d been the one to show him around the school. He was a cute kid, very curious and looked up to him like he had actually been anything special. Jihoon had never been too sure  _why_ ; he had done nothing to stand out during high school, just a regular student with a decent amount of friends. But Guanlin had still admired him, and they kept in touch for a few more years until Jihoon had gotten swept up in the dreadful stress of medical school.

He’d been picking out desserts at the kitchen table when he was approached by someone he’d never seen before. A slightly tan man in a nicely-fitted suit, hair half off of his forehead and upturned eyes that peered at him curiously. He was gorgeous, Jihoon remembers, much so that he’d dropped an egg tart onto the table while indiscreetly checking him out.

 

_15 HOURS AGO_

_“Yeah, those were so good I dropped mine out of surprise, too.” Jihoon catches the little smirk on the man’s face as his eyes switch back between him and the egg tart._

_The corner of his mouth quirks up in embarrassment. “As bizarre as Seongwoo is, he’s pretty damn good at baking.”_

_The man lets out a quiet chuckle, “I would hope so, his café would be suffering if he wasn't.”_

_“Oh, so you know the Muffin Man too?”_

_He lifts an amused brow at the nickname, “Him and his boyfriends, and the poor guy that raised ‘em all.” Jihoon assumes he’s referring to Jisung. “But he didn’t tell me he was friends with a gorgeous actor.”_

_Jihoon laughs unguardedly, “You actually think that was smooth, don’t you?”_

_The taller shrugs, playful. “I think it was pretty good, yeah.”_

_“Okay, props for confidence, I’ll give you that.” Jihoon returns his smile, wondering how he was being charmed with terrible cheesy lines right now. “But you don’t know real betrayal until you’ve met Daehwi and Jinyoung.”_

_“Well, seeing as I’m Daehwi’s best friend, I could see how painful that would be.”_

_Jihoon’s eyes widen. How could Woojin know all of his friends and still be unknown to him? It seems virtually impossible, with how they live in the same city and hang out with the same circle of friends, to know so little about each other’s existence. “Okay, how have we not met before?”_

_“Oh my God, you two have finally met!” He hears a voice from behind them, an arm coming to drape around his shoulder. Jisung smiles at the both of them, “After a whole year of failure you’re finally in the same room together, this is so exciting!”_

_It only takes a few seconds before realization dawns on him, “Wait, you’re Woojin?”_

_For months now, Jisung has been trying to get the two of them to meet, something about them being a perfect match that the heavens were just waiting to happen. It had never worked out though, because conflicts had always come up before they could. The first time Jisung had intended for the two of them to meet, it was a lunch celebration for Daniel, Seongwoo, and Minhyun opening up their new business. Jihoon had gotten a call from work, telling him to come in for the day and he hadn’t been able to refuse. The second attempt had failed when Woojin’s company had urged him to join a sudden important meeting half an hour before Jaehwan’s busking performance, which had kept him occupied for the rest of that afternoon. The third time, it had been just minutes before Sungwoon’s housewarming party that Jihoon had gotten into a minor car accident, and spent the rest of the night in the hospital. Every attempt had fallen short just minutes before, and now that he’s standing right in front of him, it feels very long overdue._

_Woojin nods slowly, recognition slowly appearing on his face. “And you’re Jihoon.”_

_He smiles warmly, “Guess we’re finally meeting.”_

_“Not soon enough, hey?”_

_Jihoon feels a tug at the corner of his lips, unable to help himself from swaying slightly at the clear interest in Woojin’s eyes. He shrugs, “Better late than never.”_

_“Well, I’m clearly unwanted here.” Jisung claps his hands and breaks whatever tension he’s getting in the way of. “Have fun you too, write a good a review for me online if you hit it off tonight!” And with that he waves them off, going off to answer the door._

_Woojin turns to him in confusion, “He has a_ —  _”_

_“No.” Jihoon cuts him off while shaking his head, and Woojin nods in understanding._

_“Well, should we go talk with the others?”_

_“Aw, you sick of me already, snaggletooth?” Jihoon feigns hurt, pouting at the taller._

_Woojin gives him a playful grin, “Jealous, are we?”_

_“Oh, I’m not worried, half the people here are already dating.” Jihoon lifts a shoulder in a half shrug, drumming his fingers against his elbow. He chuckles at that, and Jihoon thinks he could get used to that laugh._

_They move away from the table not to obstruct anyone else's sweet tooth, and spend the rest of their time in Jisung's apartment getting to know each other. "So, business man, huh?"_

_Woojin’s head hangs down, looking slightly embarrassed from the tone of Jihoon’s voice. "It's not that interesting."_

_"Oh, I didn't think so." Jihoon says in a lighthearted manner._

_The younger nods, laughing quietly. "Fair enough. So, where do you work then hotshot?"_

_"I'm in my last year of pediatric residency."_

_Woojin's mouth gapes slightly, eyes wide. "Wait, you're a doctor?"_

_Jihoon snorts at his surprise, "Not yet, but I'm nearly there after years and years of school."_

_"Wow, that's dedication." Woojin marvels. Jihoon has always felt some fulfillment at every reaction he’d get from others hearing about his career choice. He couldn’t help but be proud, especially since he’d worked so hard to get to where he is, so validation was always more than welcome. "I don't think I could ever do that."_

_"It's been difficult, but I really like to work with kids so I'm happy I've gotten this far." Jihoon answers with a proud smile._

A voice brings him out of his thoughts, and he’s met with the sight of his breakfast potato soup. “Hey, how are you doing?” Minhyun asks him as he’s placing his soup and toasted bagel down in front of him.

“A little dizzy but I’ll be fine in an hour or so.” Jihoon answers, still feeling sluggish when his hand comes up to grab his spoon.

“You really don’t remember what happened last night?”

Jihoon puts a finger up to shush him, “Don’t tell me I’m trying to exercise my recalling skills.”

“Well I left before I could actually see it happen so I don’t know much, but you might want to brace yourself.” Minhyun tells him, and then walks away even after seeing the way his eyes widen in fear at his words. Brace himself for what? Jihoon has done plenty of embarrassing things in the past, from jumping into a public water fountain in the middle of a park, to knocking on his exes door just a few days after their break up, crying and heartbroken. There isn’t any possibility that comes to mind that could be any worse than the other times.

When the pounding in his head starts up again (and he’s chided himself on forgetting to take Tylenol before leaving his apartment) another memory stirs in his mind. They’d gone to a club later that night, and Jihoon had taken one too many shots. He remembers spending most of the night with Woojin, remembers the constant flirting and the occasional high-fives, always being on the same wavelength and even surprising their friends with it.

He remembers the point of the night where he’d gotten emotional about not being able to experience what it’s like to be in love because of how busy he’s been with school and residency. Woojin had sympathized with him, holding his hand and hugging him. He'd told him that good things would be sure to come, with how easy-going and fun he was to be around and how hard-working and earnest he was, these things would surely bring him happiness. He'd said it wouldn't surprise him if he already had people lining up for him without his knowledge, especially with how beautiful he was.

 _Beautiful_. That word didn't leave his mind for the rest of the night. 

And then there was dancing, dangerous proximity, and more drinking. What strikes him the most is how he’d forgotten the moment they’d locked lips, the way it felt so natural, so right. He hadn’t known if it was the buzzing excitement of the club or the intoxication, but it had felt so electric. Every interaction between them that night had him brimming with frenzy, a kind of elation that he didn’t think he’d ever felt before. So they kissed, and they’d kissed some more, and then,

They had left.

They left the club at some point, this filters back into his memories. He tries to track his actions further, worried about what kind of problems he might have caused out on the streets. He had snuck out with Woojin, Daehwi, and Jinyoung, and were shortly chased after by a drunk Sungwoon who had insisted that he was their adult supervision. After that it’s mostly a haze of aimlessly walking and shouting in the streets, until they had reached a building.

It hits him slowly, just what that building had been. The papers he’d grabbed, the things he signed. The memory shatters with his growing panic, his desperate hoping for this part of his recollection to be false. But when he hears the chime of the front door and sees that familiar snaggletooth, with eyes just as wide and terror-stricken as his, he knows it has to be real.

They had escaped the club, drunk and irrational, to get their marriage registered.

 

_Fuck._

 

 

 

 

 

ii.

 

So there they sit, a wild difference in the mood of the air, unsure of how to take in this information. “We.. we’re… married.” Jihoon swallows hard, blinking rapidly. “By law.” he says it, and thinks it, and remembers it. But it still doesn't seem real to him. It can't be. This is all just a horrible dream that he has yet to wake up from. He tries to pinch himself awake, but to no avail. This is happening, whether he likes it or not. 

Woojin chuckles awkwardly, nervously tapping at the side of his coffee mug. “Yeah.”

Jihoon heaves a harsh sigh, rucking his hands through his hair. “How could you let us go through with it?”

“Me? You were equally a part of this as I was!” Woojin counters, sipping at his drink. Jihoon takes notice of his hair, which is a lot less groomed today than it was last night. Strands of hair stick out in various directions, and his squinting eyes don't seem to want to acknowledge that he's awake either. 

“This is not good.” Jihoon groans, wanting very much to cry right now but ultimately deciding not to get emotional in public. 

The younger scoffs at his pointing out the obvious. “Clearly.”

“But wait,” Jihoon sits up abruptly, mind whirring away. There had to be a way out of this, or maybe even a loophole. After all, they were drunk, how much could they really have done in that state of mind anyways? “We just got a license, right? It’s not like we’d gotten signatures from witnesses or anything.”

 

_11 HOURS AGO_

_“Hell yeah we’ll be witnesses!” Jinyoung exclaims in place of him and Daehwi, who’s stumbling around and giggling just beside him._

_“What are we witnessing?” Daehwi questions dazedly, nearly walking into Woojin._

_“Our marriage.” Woojin explains, grabbing Daehwi by the shoulders and directing him towards the building. "Go into that place and sign it."_

_“Aw!” Daehwi coos, turning around to squish Woojin’s cheeks roughly. “And I thought I’d never be able to send you off, I’m so proud!”_

_“And I thought you’d live alone forever like the miserable loaf of bread you are, but you finally found someone to put up with you!” Jinyoung smothers him in a congratulatory hug as well, but Jihoon is less thankful for his 'good' wishes, shoving him forward._

_“Just sign the paper!”_

 

“Please don’t kill me, oh god. I have so much more life left than you guys!” Daehwi pleads when the two of them stare him down angrily, catching him after he’d tried to run away.

“Yeah, it’s not our fault you were being stupid drunks.” Jinyoung contributed rather uselessly, having sat down on his own for some coffee. "That don't know how to say thank you for our services and just leave after making a scene." He turns to glare at Woojin, who waves a dismissive hand, still in the midst of freaking out. 

Jihoon points an accusing finger at Jinyoung, jabbing it into his chest. “You’re an accomplice you have no right to talk.”

"To be fair you guys did _manhandle_ us into signing, so even if we did sign it, it's both of your faults for basically threatening us to." Daehwi argues, and Jihoon doesn't even have a rebuttal because it's _true_. 

Woojin groans, hair already disheveled from the stress. He rests his elbow on the table and leans his weight against it, face squished up against his palms. “W-We would need an officiant to sign it too!”

"Yeah!" Jihoon gets his hopes up again, "And none of us are qualified to do so!"

" _Except,_ " Jinyoung interrupts, looking more entertained than Jihoon should be allowing him to be. "Sungwoon, who was ordained for _Jisung's_ wedding."

 

_10 HOURS AGO_

_“Dear friends, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Park Jihoon and Park Woojin in marriage. In the hours they’ve been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and with love and joy, we celebrate the commitment they make today.”_

_“Woooo!” Jinyoung screams from behind Jihoon, cheering on Sungwoon who, for some reason, bows with the reaction._

_“True marriage is_ — _"_

_“Could you cut to the chase already let’s do this thing!” Woojin interrupts, bouncing in his spot._

_Sungwoon flinches at his boundless energy, scrunching his face up. “Alright! Geez.” The older clears his throat and throws in some unnecessary vocal warm ups before continuing. “Do you, Park Jihoon, take Park Woojin to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?_

_Jihoon smiles, “I do.”_

_“And do you, Park Woojin, take Park Jihoon to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, so long as you both shall live?”_

_“Hell yeah!”_

_“Woojin!” Daehwi chides from behind, hitting him on the arm._

_Sungwoon raises his arms out in front of him, “And now by the power invested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may now kiss the groom!”_

 

“Sungwoon!” A collective reprimand is thrown at Sungwoon when he sits himself down at their corner table, in the thankfully nearly empty café.

“Listen, intoxication does things to you man!” Sungwoon holds his hands up in defense, backing away from the butter knife that Jihoon is holding scarily close to his neck. “How was I supposed to know that it wasn’t a joke? How was  _I_ supposed to know that when you two ran off to do God knows what, that  _what_ was registering for a marriage license?!”

"You signed the papers!" Jihoon bursts out wildly. 

"I thought I was giving my _autograph_!" 

They receive a bunch of stares from the few other occupied tables, but the management has yet to do anything because the management is kind of  _biased_. From behind the counter, Seongwoo, Daniel, and Minhyun are all having a wonderful time laughing at their bizarre situation. Seongwoo wipes a tear from his eye, having cried from laughing so hard. Minhyun is still chuckling when he comes over to give Sungwoon his drink. “Man, I knew we had weird friends but I didn’t know they could be  _this_ destructive.”

Jihoon raises a brow, “Uh, you hired your ex to work at a café that you and your boyfriends co-own.”

“Hey, there were no hard feelings after the break up!” He insists, then turns towards the back of the store, “Right, Jaehwan?”

Jaehwan comes out from the kitchen with a rag, shaking his head. “Oh, no I still despise you.” Minhyun’s mouth clamps shut, and he makes his way back behind the counter.

Jihoon huffs, “Where is the perpetrator of this whole crime anyways?” And then as if on cue, Jisung and Guanlin walk into the café and immediately make eye contact with them. The older man’s face drops, but a boisterous Guanlin is behind him, pointing and laughing at their table. Jisung puts a hand up to stop them from whatever they were going to say. “Nothing is my fault.”

 

 

 

Jisung slips on his glasses, after he’d been hounded to sit down and forcibly dragged by Woojin and Guanlin (the latter had only helped for his own entertainment purposes.) “So, since the both of you were intoxicated when you registered your marriage, you guys will be able to file a joint petition annulment. This could take about two weeks, but considering the attorney and court costs, you guys might want to wait it out a bit, though that might not bode too well either.”

“Costs?” Jihoon grimaces at the very mention of money. He’s already swarmed with debt from medical school, barely holding himself up right now.

Jisung looks apprehensive, like he doesn’t want to continue for the sake of their health, but it’s not like it’s something he can keep to himself to spare him of a possible stroke, so he tells them. “$550 for attorney services, and around $320 in court costs.”

“ _What?!"_  The two of them exclaim, Jihoon almost choking with how quickly he’d jumped up.

Jihoon starts to feel dizzy all over again, barely able to keep himself on his feet. He finds himself laughing, its hollow and dispassionate and he can’t stop, not when karma has come to bite him in the ass and finally teach him once and for all the kinds of consequences that come from him drinking. “Why is this a thing I have to be concerned about? How did my life get to this point?”

Woojin sighs again, nodding his head as he falls back into his chair. “Yeah, it’s way too early in the morning for this.”

“It’s nearly two in the afternoon.” Daehwi reminds them, but they both brush him off.

“How could you just leave us when we were running around the city drunk?” Jihoon scolds Minhyun, Jaehwan and Guanlin, who had been the designated drivers of the night, and therefore, the only sober ones.

“Okay, for your information, seeing as how little you have going on in your brain right now,” Jaehwan starts offensively, having taken a seat at their table on his break. “You guys ran away without telling us and we spent the entire night driving around trying to find you reckless freaks!”

“Yeah, imagine going on a wild goose hunt for your twenty-eight year old friends _("I’m twenty-nine.” “Shut up, I’m speaking.”)_ who, one, can’t properly limit their alcohol intake and two, have the stamina of a pack of cheetahs!” Guanlin adds in, crossing his arms angrily. Minhyun looks like he wants to pour water over their heads instead of their glasses.

“I’m willing to take on your case, but I can’t be lenient on you for price just because we’re friends. I have to make a living too, especially with the wedding coming up.” Jisung sounds guilty, pulling his glasses off of his face and closing them with his chin.

“I understand that, Jisung, don’t worry about it.” Jihoon assures him, even though it hurts to say. “This was a mistake that we made and we need to pay the price for it.” He sighs heavily. “Literally.”

Jisung offers him a sad smile, “If you guys are free Tuesday night I could meet up with you to discuss this further.”

Jihoon runs a hand down his face, defeated. "Alright, I’ll get back to you on that. We should call it a day anyways, we've been taking up two tables for three hours."

“It’s not like they get any customers with this kind of service.” Guanlin points towards Jaehwan to make his point, and the older huffs angrily before flinging his rag over his shoulder and walking away.

"Yeah, I need to get ready for work." Daehwi says, finishing the rest of his iced coffee. "But let me know how your newlywed life goes!"

"I'm going to strangle you." Woojin spits out at the younger, who just gives him a taunting smile.

One by one, their friends take their leave, until it's just Jihoon and Woojin again. Jihoon slips his messenger bag over one shoulder, leaving some bills on the table for Minhyun who dearly put up with them for so long. Woojin comes back from the register, slipping his wallet into his back pocket. “So what brings you here anyways? I thought you lived like over half an hour away from here.”

“I was feeling really bad last night so I kind of whined until Jinyoung let me stay at his place for the night. Left early for breakfast because I didn't wanna hassle him to feed me.” The younger explains, “I took a sick day because of my hangover so I guess I’m heading home now. Do you need a ride?"

He shakes his head, but appreciates the offer. "No, thank you, but I'm fine, I live just around the block so I can walk, plus i need to stop by somewhere."

Woojin nods, and Jihoon follows him to the door. The sun hits them right as they exit the café, and Jihoon takes notice of the nice glow of Woojin's skin. The taller turns towards him, a polite smile on his face. "I guess I'll see you tonight, honey."

Jihoon groans at the joke, throwing his head back.  " _Please_ don't go there."

The other chuckles, hand going to fish out his phone from his pocket. "You know, we never managed to exchange numbers last night in all of the mayhem."

He realizes this as well, pulling out his own phone in a hurry. "Right, that's probably important."

The two of them exchange numbers, Jihoon jokingly naming his contact  _Hubby_. When he gives Woojin his phone back, he lifts an amused brow, a small grin tugging at his lips. "I thought you said not to go there?"

Jihoon smirks, turning his body halfway around, not without a little wave before he leaves. "Bye Woojin."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Two days later, Jisung picks Jihoon up as soon as he gets off work and they drive over to Woojin’s apartment on the other side of the city. In spite of their circumstances, Jihoon finds himself happy to see Woojin again. They make themselves comfortable on the couch, with Jihoon and Woojin side by side and Jisung across from them.

“Alright, so first things first, we need to decide when we’re going to sign and notarize your joint petition and decree.” Jisung starts off, “As much as I want to give you as much time as I can for you to adjust to the impact, the long wait may not work in your favor when a judge is considering your grant.”

Jihoon chews on his bottom lip, never ready for this conversation. “I’m okay with adjusting accordingly after we get everything done if that’s the case.” He turns to Woojin, who looks equally as troubled.

Woojin scratching his nose, jaw clenching. “It’s a rough hit, but I don’t want to waste any more of anyone’s time, so we can do this right away.”

“Okay, if you’re both sure.” They both nod, and Jisung reaches for his briefcase. He organizes the papers in front of them, handing them a pen. “Fill this out, including your reason for annulment, and any other of the information applicable to you.”

Jisung guides them through the process, and they listen intently in order for this to go as smoothly as possible. When Jihoon is finished checking off the boxes, they both sign and date the joint petition and the decree. Jisung explains the forms can be notarized easily over video call online, and the rest of the night is spent in an effort to get all of the needed documents sorted out and signed.

"We’ll file this tomorrow. If you have any other questions just ask me, but in the meantime and in the future, please think before you act." He pleads, as he’s packing up his things. They both nod as Jisung continues to lecture them on his way to the door. He turns to Jihoon after he's slipped on his shoes. "I can take you home."

Woojin holds a hand out, "Actually, I was gonna invite him to stay for dinner." The taller turns to look at him, eyebrows raise. "If you're okay with that."

Jihoon nods, "Yeah, I'll stay."

Jisung switches between them, casting them both dirty looks. "I'm right here and you're not gonna invite me to stay too?"

Woojin scoffs, leaning against the door. "Don't you have a fiancée to get home to?"

"Yes. But an invitation would have sufficed." He says, a small pout on his lips. Jihoon snickers at his disappointment. "Well, you two have a good night, I guess."

Woojin grins at him, "Goodnight, Jisung." He closes the door behind their friend, and suddenly Jihoon feels the weight of being completely alone with him for the first time. The younger gestures towards the living room couch for Jihoon to sit. "Do you wanna just wait here with the TV on while I cook dinner?"

Jihoon lifts a brow in surprise, "Oh, you cook?"

Woojin sucks in a breath though clenched teeth, eyes darting around the room. "Please don't offer to sit across the counter I get nervous when people watch me."

He chuckles in amusement, head falling to look at his feet. "Actually it was just a standalone question but since the idea is in my head.."

"I set myself up for it." Woojin mumbles, thumb and index finger wrapping around his forehead.

Jihoon smiles.  _Cute_. "Don't worry, I'll stay here and wait."

Woojin's head comes back up to look at him." You sure?"

He nods reassuringly, making himself comfy on the couch again. "Just know that I'm practically a food critic, so I advise you do your best."

The tips of the younger's ears color pink, "No pressure, right?" He reaches down for the remote on the coffee table, turning the TV on. "I won't be long, make yourself comfy." And with that, Woojin heads towards the kitchen, leaving him alone in the living room. He scrolls through his phone with the television partly filtering through his ears, finding himself on baking videos at some point during the night. When he's drained a lot of his battery he put it down to make other use of his waiting time.

His eyes decide to roam the place, taking his time to admire each painting on the wall. He sees a bunch of picture frames resting on the top of the shelf just above the television, and gets up to get a closer look. They're in chronological order, with a baby picture of Woojin and his parents at the start of the line. Jihoon coos at the pose, hands forming into something resembling a flower just underneath his chin, head tilted cutely to the side. He's a bit older in the next one, with an absurd choice of clothing, including the pair of sunglasses on his face that are way too big for him and a pose that almost has him laughing out loud (but he holds it in for fear that Woojin might barge in and take all of the photos away, storing them somewhere out of sight.)

He finds Daehwi in the third one, with Woojin holding him in a headlock but the both of them smiling widely. He recognizes their friends in various other pictures, after that, from high school, to graduation. Jihoon wonders how they'd always managed to miss each other, being in the same circle of friends for so long. Sure, Woojin was half an hour away from him, and many of his other friends, save for Jisung, who lived at the midpoint between their two areas and Daehwi who was closer to Woojin, lived on his side of the city. But it's just strange, to think that all this time, they knew everyone around each other except for, well, each other.

It's then that Woojin's head pops out of the kitchen to call him to eat, "Hey, dinner's rea—" His eyes widen when he sees Jihoon in front of his pictures, scrambling out of the kitchen in his spiderman apron towards him and knocking over the second picture, or the one with the faux James Bond look, as Jihoon recalls. He puts on an innocent look when Woojin turns to him with worry written all over face. "You didn't see that one, did you?"

Jihoon blows out his cheeks, "Nope. I most definitely did not see your monstrous sunglasses and outrageous hairstyle."

Woojin makes an embarrassed sound, pulling the frame off of the shelf and hiding it behind his back. "I don't know why my mom put that up there, I should keep this somewhere safe, like in the fireplace."

Jihoon snorts, walking past him towards the kitchen. "This is an apartment, you don't have a fireplace."

"The oven then." Woojin offers, then goes to grab plates for his stir-fry, sliding it across the table to him when he's piled on a generous amount. Jihoon thanks him, waiting until Woojin has his food and has taken a seat next to him before eating.

His eyes bulge after a savory bite. "Okay, that's really good, I may have underestimated you." He admits, picking up a bunch more mushrooms and shrimp.

"I get that a lot." Woojin answers, a small smile on his face as he watches him eat. "Glad to see you're enjoying it."

"Sorry, kind of a shameless eater." Jihoon says, rather embarrassed with Woojin watching him gobble things down.

Woojin chuckles quietly, turning back to his own food. "Makes it feel more comfortable so I'm not complaining." He takes a bite, before continuing some small talk. "So, how was your day at work?"

"Actually, it was a pretty interesting day." Jihoon starts, after he's swallowed down his shrimp. "I have a patient who's probably the sweetest kid I've ever met, and after I'd finished talking to a previous patient, I noticed her and another girl talking about university and careers and what they want to do with their life and for the world. I swear, some kids are way ahead of their time, it's amazing."

Woojin hums thoughtfully, "When I was a kid I wanted to be a professional cookie." Jihoon stops his fork midway up to his mouth, doing a double take after he hears the words. He puts his fork down and sits up, narrowing his eyes at the younger, severely perplexed. Woojin holds a hand up to stop him before he can say anything. "Don't ask, I don't have an answer for you."

Jihoon's laugh starts out slow, until he's throwing his head back, ribs beginning to hurt. "So many bizarre things come out of your mouth, I can't even tell which are jokes."

"This one isn't." Woojin adds, seemingly suppressing his own laugh. "I wrote that on an assignment in preschool and I don't remember the reason, I just remember the confused face on my teacher's face, and I decided that I need to tell story that to everyone I become friends with."

"I think giving that dream up it was a strong decision for you to make." Jihoon says with fake sympathy, putting a comforting hand near Woojin's plate.

Woojin wipes a fake tear, "Thank you. Not everyone understands." Jihoon rolls his eyes lightheartedly, a grin spreading across his face before he goes back to his food.

It's nice, comfy. And Jihoon doesn't usually get this comfortable around people he's just met,  _especially_ in their houses. But Jihoon had never spent much time on this side of the city. He hadn't realized how strangely comforting it could be to hear the faint traffic near the ground, the neon lights of the city glaring in through the window. It’s a vast difference from his quiet, dimly lit apartment, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing at all.

After dinner, Jihoon helps Woojin clean up, insisting he would do the dishes since Woojin had cooked for them. After minutes of back and forth, they decide to work on them together. "Your place is nice." Jihoon comments as he's soaking the plates. "It must get a little lonely sometimes though. I know I do in my small apartment."

"Yeah. This city is practically bustling with excitement around every corner but once you come home, an empty apartment feels a lot more empty than usual." Woojin empathizes, "Must be nice to have friends who live a few streets down. Daehwi visits a lot since he's near me, but most of our friends are too lazy to come see me.”

"Half an hour is hardly anything.” Jihoon muses. "But I get how it's more work, especially when we're all so busy. It’s easy to just stay within your own area, and even easier to casually drop by to say hi to friends when they’re two minutes away.”

"Maybe you should stop stealing my friends." Woojin teases, drying his hands with a towel.

Jihoon scoffs, shaking his head. "Maybe they were mine to begin with."

They clean a while more, until it gets late and Jihoon decides it's time to get going. "Thanks for dinner, you didn't have to go through the trouble." He says when they reach the door.

"It's the least I could do since I basically stole a whole two weeks of your life." Woojin returns sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Jihoon waves a dismissive hand, "Both our faults. But it'll work out soon enough." He slips on his shoes, hands wrapping around the strap of his messenger bag as he rocks on his feet. He finds himself feeling a little weird about leaving, but he figures it's because it's a new place to be leaving and going home from. "If I hear anything new from Jisung first, I'll call you."

Woojin nods, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Have a safe trip back." Jihoon gives him a smile and a soft goodbye before opening the door. But before he can step out, Woojin calls out his name, "Wait, Jihoon." He holds out his hand to stop him, but his fingertips barely reach his sweater before they fall back down to his side. "You're welcome here anytime."

The corners of his mouth lift up again, "Thanks."

 

 

* * *

 

 

With all of the annulment issues Jihoon has been caught up in during the last few days, he’d almost forgotten about the road trip plans their group had made for the upcoming weekend. It had fallen short though, with Jinyoung having to make up a shift for his co-worker, their resident poly couple having to run the store for the morning, and the fact that Jihoon (and neither Woojin, most likely) isn’t exactly in a position to be anything but frugal. He’d told his friends with a heavy heart that he was thinking of backing out, because too many things were happening at too quick of a pace and Jihoon could barely keep his head over water. He had insisted that they at least try to plan the trip without him, because it was an idea that they’ve been toying with for the last month, but none of them would accept it.

And that’s how over half of them end up at Sungwoon’s on Wednesday night, discussing a possible alternative for their last weekend getaway of the summer. “I know it’s disappointing that we have to cancel the road trip, considering a lot of us would have wanted to get out of the state for a few days. But our plan first and foremost is to have everyone there, so we’re gonna have to tweak the plan to fit that.”

“This may seem kind of lacklustre, but I’m pretty sure a lot of us haven’t even been to the Strip before, and for some of us it’s been a while.” Sungwoon starts, “We could like visit all of the hotels and do all the free stuff we can do there, hang out at the promenade, end the night of the high roller, and then maybe if it’s okay with Woojin, crash at his place since it’s like fifteen minutes away?”   

“If you guys are okay with spreading blankets across the living room floor then yeah, I’m cool with it.” Woojin consents, and Jihoon can practically see the excitement dancing in his tapping fingers at the thought of finally having friends over on his lonely side of the city.  

“Confession, I’ve never been to Bellagio before.” Daehwi raises his hand, and Jihoon follows.

“What? But you literally live in Vegas.” Daniel says, puzzled.

“I know, but I spend so much time in Henderson because of Jinyoung so I’m barely home, and when we go on vacations we usually leave the state. I wanna see the fountains though!” Daehwi chirps, bouncing in his seat.

“That sounds like a good plan. And since its close, we could just wake up and leave Woojin’s place early to open up shop the next day.” Seongwoo rationalizes to Minhyun and Daniel, who nod along in agreement.

“It’s a plan then.”

After dinner, and Sungwoon kicking them out so he can get some sleep, Woojin offers to drive him home. But instead of his apartment, Jihoon finds himself roaming the streets of a night market after being beckoned by the pretty lights and blasting music. They come across a jewelry stand, where a line of rings catches his eye. “Don’t you think we should get some of these? To look the part for discounts and stuff.”

Woojin snickers as he’s picking one up and slipping it onto his ring finger. “Where were these rings at our wedding?”

“We had rings, they were ring pops.” Jihoon reminds him, “And instead of kiss the groom, it was lick the ring.”

Woojin inclines his head in recollection, smirking at the memory. “They were tasty rings.” They purchase two matching silver rings, immediately slipping them on. “You can’t take this off for the duration of our wait.”

“But I lose things easily.” Jihoon explains, looking down at his ring finger warily.

“If you lose it, you pay the price.” Woojin says in a way that’s meant to be threatening, except none of anything that happens to them has any sobriety and is therefore hard to take seriously.

Jihoon scoffs, amused. “And what would the price be?”

Woojin shrugs, “Hm, don’t know yet. I’ll have to write up a formal contract.”

“This is an accidental marriage, not an arranged one.” He nudges the younger with his elbow, laughing when Woojin squirms away like a worm.

“But it’s legitimate!” Woojin retorts with a finger that jabs into his side in retaliation. “And legit marriages get perks. But we only have maybe two weeks to use it.”

“Then what do you suggest, a newlywed bucket list?” Jihoon questions, still more of a joke than anything, but with the look in Woojin’s eyes, he can tell the younger is serious about this.

“Yeah! Doesn’t that sound fun?” He gushes with genuine excitement, “Let’s go to your place and write one up.”

Jihoon does a double take, opening his mouth and closing it a few times. “Right now?”

“Well we’re out and nearby anyways, so why not?”

And that’s how Jihoon ends up squished up against Woojin’s side on his tiny couch in his small apartment, two blank papers in front of them, one titled  _Bucket List_ and the other  _Marriage Contract_. Woojin is a lot more dedicated to thinking up things the bucket list, so Jihoon goes to work on the contract, though he’s not too sure what to put down or really how contracts even work for the most part. Woojin throws out a bunch of technical terms that Jihoon misses as he’s trying to write it down, until eventually they decide that it would be better for Woojin to take over the contract.

Jihoon takes over the later part of the bucket list, though most of his ideas overlap with Woojin’s anyways, so he doesn’t end up adding much to it.

 

Double Park’s Newlywed Bucket List

  1. take advantage of a married couple discount at least once
  2. take cheesy pictures at every photobooth we can find
  3. have a low budget wedding photoshoot and print photos to send to friends  ~~and family please don’t make my parents see this~~
  4. ~~go gambling as a hot power couple are you stupid we’re too broke for this~~
  5. go to a wedding cake tasting



“This is good, right? It won’t last that long so we don’t really need anything else.”

Woojin looks over, frowning when he sees the lines he’d written that Jihoon had crossed out. “What do you mean we can’t go gambling? Look at us, we’re a hot couple, we’d steal the show!”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, “I have too much debt to be able to afford anything ever. A trip to the casino is the last thing on my mind, even if we’ll be in Vegas.”

Woojin scrunches his nose in dissatisfaction, but doesn’t complain any further. “Fine, but we could’ve swept the floor with those people, just saying.”

Jihoon leans over to see what Woojin has written on their contract.

 

Double Park’s Marriage Contract

  1. Both parties must complete the items on the bucket list before the marriage is annulled
  2. If needed, the use of the term ‘husband’ may be used to help the other
  3. Skinship is only permitted through consent of both parties
  4. Rings are to be worn every day. If one does not wear the ring, they will have to pay for the next dinner at the choice of the other.  
_All other breaches of contract will be punished accordingly._



Jihoon grimaces at the last point. “Why do I feel like this is just your elaborate plan to become a sugar baby? Because if it is then you’ve played yourself, because I’m fresh out of med school.”

“What do you mean? I’m being totally reasonable.” Woojin says innocently, to which Jihoon narrows his eyes.

“Knowing you, that dinner is gonna cost as much as an airplane ticket to Hawaii.”

“Exactly, so don’t lose the ring.” Woojin points a finger at him, and then at his ring. Then he drops the pen down onto the table and leans back, sprawling out of the sofa with his arms outstretched along the back. Jihoon doesn’t mean to stare, but he does, and he doesn’t realize it until Woojin is pushing back up with a curious, dangerous look in his eyes. “Maybe we should add ‘ _don’t fall in love with the other party during the annulment period._ ’”

Jihoon feels the tips of his ears heat up but doesn’t let the statement deter him from holding his own. He smiles sarcastically, “Mm, then I guess you’ve got a lot of work coming for you.”

Woojin shrugs rather cutely, “I like a good challenge.”

“Is it really a challenge?” Jihoon teases, waggling his eyebrows.

“Getting cocky now.” Woojin clicks his tongue, shaking his head, and then he’s moving to pick the pen back up and  _actually_ writes that last rule in as their fifth and final rule. The younger sees the shock on his face and has the audacity to chuckle. “Did you think I was kidding? Why, you don’t have the confidence to keep yourself from falling for me? Or have you already fallen?”

Jihoon lets a huff past his lips, crossing his arms stubbornly. “I think we both know who the actual narcissist here is. And I accept the challenge.”

Woojin smirks, eyes roaming him up and down in a way that makes his skin tingle. “Good.”

 

 

 

 

iii.

 

They next time they see each other is on Friday, when Woojin asks him if he wants to meet up at the mall after he gets off. Jihoon takes the bus there and Woojin gets there some ten minutes after him, giving him a lazy smile as he walks into the doors. “Hey.”

“So, did you have a plan for today or did you just want to see me?” Jihoon teases as they walk. Jihoon had wanted to see him as well, of course. Something about Woojin keeps pulling him back, keeps him wanting more. He’s an annoyingly pleasant breath of fresh air, a refresher to his otherwise boring and lonely routine.  

“Well, since Seongwoo’s birthday is coming up, I thought you could help me pick out something for him. Plus, I figured there has to be a photobooth somewhere here and number two wants us to get started on it right away.”

Jihoon chuckles, “Suuure.”

The two of them stop to grab something to eat at the food court first, Jihoon immediately going to KFC. They discuss possible things that Seongwoo would need, and search his social media for any other helpful hints. They find out from his twitter that he’d recently broken his bluetooth speaker, and after a quick check in with the rest of their friend group, decide to replace it for him. Once they finish their food, they set out for the electronics store and settle on a color changing one. Jihoon stops at a phone accessory kiosk to replace his old case with a new one. Woojin points out a blue case with a pair of angry eyes and don’t touch my phone written underneath, but Jihoon settles on the pink one with a cute little cactus.

Near the escalators, Woojin happens to spot a photobooth before Jihoon does, and has Jihoon by the wrist, pulling him into the cramped space. They run in so quickly, Jihoon nearly lands on Woojin as the younger sits down. He catches himself in the last second, with a hand propping him up against the wall, an inch away from slamming his nose into it. “You are _way_ too excited about this.”

“I love these things, they’re so fun and cute but no one wants to take pictures with me and I don’t want to take them alone.” Woojin manages to sound pitiful, so Jihoon sits down without further protest.

“Okay wait shouldn’t we like plan the poses before we press—”

Woojin leans forward and pushes the button, “Let’s go!”

Jihoon doesn’t have good reaction time, ever. So when Woojin cuts him off and starts the photos, it takes him a good few seconds to bounce back from the sudden outburst, and by the time he’s managed to get himself together, the camera is already going off. And Jihoon, by the third click, gives up on making anything other than a confused face.

“We have to do that again!” Jihoon complains after the fourth flash.

“Why? That seemed good to me.”

He shoots the younger a glare, “Do you ever pay attention to anything else around you?” Jihoon slips out of the booth, and pulls out the pictures after they’ve processed, shoving it into Woojin’s face and pointing at his complete state of befuddlement in every picture. Woojin seems to be satisfied with it even then, but he agrees to do it again.

This time, Jihoon is prepared for the countdown, as he’s the one to press the button. They’re all very mellow poses, seeing as they’re still very new to each other, but it's the first one of what he thinks will be many. He takes the second set of pictures home, after Woojin had insisted on taking the first set.

Woojin smiles fondly at the pictures, "This is gonna look cute on my fridge."

 

Jihoon doesn't tell him that he puts his up on his fridge as well.

 

* * *

 

 

By the early hours of Saturday afternoon, Jihoon is packed for the night and ready to head out for their vacation day. Daniel picks him up after the three of them close their restaurant for the day, and they (along with Jaehwan, who belts every song that comes on the radio the whole ride there) head up to Woojin’s apartment. Daehwi and Jinyoung are already there helping Woojin make food, Minhyun adding a bag baked goods onto the table. Jisung follows them into the apartment shortly after, having brought along Guanlin and Sungwoon.

Jihoon helps Minhyun and Jisung rolls out the blankets across the living room for later, and Guanlin piles their duffle bags up against the far wall.

“You know, this weirdly feels like an actual trip.” Sungwoon notes as he and Jaehwan sit around on the couch, doing nothing to help anyone. “Even if it’s like half an hour away from home.”

“It’s cause I’m here, and I make everything seem better.” Jaehwan says haughtily, stretching his arms across the back of the couch, but they don’t get far because Sungwoon is smacking his arm away on his right and Jinyoung is behind the couch pushing his head forward. Jaehwan whips his head towards the younger boy, upset. “What was that for?”

Jinyoung merely shrugs, “Consistency.”

“Of  _what_?”

“Rejecting you. It's mine and Minhyun's thing."

Jihoon hears Daehwi’s howling laughter from the kitchen.

They start late afternoon, and as expected, the strip is filled with people and so many places to visit. It’s hard to know where to look, with hotels lined up, sights everywhere, and so many people to watch. Most of them use the time to go shopping, while Jihoon mainly just looks around, taking pictures and giving his friends suggestions. Woojin ends up finding a photobooth somewhere along the promenade, once again pushing Jihoon into it. For it being the second time, Jihoon’s reflexes have adapted to Woojin’s energy rather adequately.

They’re already smiling when they get into the photobooth, pressing the button after Woojin kicks Jaehwan out behind the curtain that he tries to get past. There are pom-poms sticking up from headbands on both of their heads that keep getting in the way of each other, so most of the pictures consist of them trying to push each other out of the way to be the center of the photo. They have to chase Jaehwan down when he attempts to make a run for it with their pictures, and the older, unsurprisingly, doesn’t get very far with Woojin on his tail. He ends up surrendering before Woojin can tackle him onto the ground.

When Jihoon gets his set of pictures back from Woojin, he looks up and is met with a undecipherable look on Daehwi’s face. Daehwi gives him a thin smile before turning back to Jinyoung, and Jihoon doesn’t know what to make of that.

After they’ve done some shopping and the sun starts to set, they begin their hotel hopping. It’s a new experience every step down the strip, with each hotel a different theme, one always trying to outdo the next. They walk practically shoulder to shoulder for the most of it, with how crowded the streets are. But there’s so much energy, from the neon lights to the endless chatter around them, various forms of entertainment everywhere they look. It’s nice, and very needed, for Jihoon to just enjoy himself freely in the company of his friends.

They reach the Bellagio fountains by 10P.M., after taking a walk through the conservatory and botanical garden. Daehwi lights up the most when they get there, heading towards the very front. Jihoon feels Woojin’s hand on his lower back, guiding him through the crowd. “Have you ever seen a fountain show before?”

Woojin nods, “I went here once with some friends from school, it was really great.”  

The group waits with enthusiastic chattering, and when the fifteen-minute interval is up, Jihoon watches as the water jets shoot up into the air, the lights gliding across the length of the water. When the jets shoot further up into the sky, Jihoon feels his heart soar with it, mouth slacking open in awe. He turns to Woojin in the midst of his excitement, “This is amazing.” Woojin smiles down at him, letting him silently enjoy the show.

When they leave the hotel, he can hear Daehwi’s fervor the whole walk out of the hotel and back onto the streets, and as they jump onto a bus to take them to the high roller. Jihoon has only been to the strip once before, during the day. But the vast difference between daytime and nighttime is tremendous, the neon lights flashing all around him, the buzzing thrill in the air.

The high roller is what Jihoon had been looking forward to the most, so when they’re in line for it he can’t stop bouncing on his feet. A cabin comes down for them to climb into, and the eleven of them pile in. Jihoon immediately rushes to the other side as soon as he gets on, looking around at everything illuminated in a purple glow. A rush goes through him as they go up, laughing at all of the slightly panicked murmuring that comes from some of the group.

As they get higher into the air, Jihoon notices that Woojin looks a bit uncomfortable, keeping away from the windows. He tries to motion for Woojin to come next to him, but the younger just holds a hand up in refusal. He frowns, stepping closer to him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’ve just never been very good with heights.” He admits sheepishly, fidgety hands clasping in front of him.

Jihoon softens, “You’ll be okay, just hold my hand.” He holds out a hand for him, and Woojin takes it, relaxing one muscle at a time with Jihoon’s encouragement. When they reach the very top, he stiffens up again, biting down onto his bottom lip. Jihoon runs his thumb over the back of his hand, trying to get him involved in a fun conversation with Daniel to take his mind off of the height. They joke around a little, and Woojin does manage to laugh through it. He also takes out his phone and ushers all of them over to take some group pictures, making sure to get some selfies alone with Woojin.

The ride starts to move, heading back down. “You wanna try looking out the window?” Jihoon tries again, careful not to sound to pressuring.

“Well, I paid for this so I might as well see some sights.” Woojin chuckles through his fear, taking small steps forward as Jihoon guides him to the window. Woojin keeps just a step behind him, peering out the window over his shoulders. Jihoon turns his head slightly and finds Woojin inches away from his face, eyes sparkling at the buildings and the light below them. “If you ignore the fact that we could fall and die, it really is pretty.”

Jihoon snorts, but agrees, smiling softly. “For a last minute vacation change, this is pretty nice.”

As they're getting off, Daehwi is tugging his sleeve, pulling him to the side. "I see you two have accepted your new life as a wedded couple." 

Jihoon swats him away, " _No_ , we're having fun with it." 

Daehwi shrugs, a playful look on his face. "I don't know, looks like it's getting real to me." He doesn't let Jihoon say anything further, skipping his way to the front of the line where Woojin is and slipping his arm around the other's. When their feet can no longer go any further, they finally decide to head back to Woojin’s apartment. The ones with endless energy put on a horror movie as soon as they make themselves comfortable in the living room, while others wash up and fall asleep early.

“Thanks for the fun trip guys.” Jihoon whispers at the remaining people, “I’m glad we decided to go through with something even though it wasn’t what we’d planned at first.”

“It’s the company that makes it fun.” Daniel expresses, and Jihoon nods in wholehearted agreement.

He falls asleep that night with his heart bursting in his chest.

 

 

 

The next morning, he wakes up to a small crash, watching as Minhyun reprimands Seongwoo, who’s clutching at his leg just next the coffee table. “You guys leaving?” Jihoon asks throatily, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, sorry for waking you.” Minhyun apologizes, ushering Seongwoo out of the way. “Tell Woojin thanks, and the others when they all wake up!” With that, Minhyun, Seongwoo and Daniel leave the apartment.

The rest of the group wake slowly, most of them refusing to move from their spots. Jinyoung, who’s resting on the floor next to the couch that Daehwi is sprawled on with his arm hanging over the side, pokes at Daehwi’s cheek continuously, his other hand holding onto the younger’s. Jaehwan mumbles as he shifts in his spot, arm coming out to stretch over Sungwoon’s stomach. Jihoon turns when he hears a door squeak open, and is met with the sight of a messy-haired Woojin in a tight-fitted shirt, trying his best not to make his attraction too obvious.

Woojin cooks them eggs and bacon for breakfast, and they sit around the living room after they’ve folded up all the blankets, silently playing 007 as they eat. It feels bitter to watch them leave after; he doesn’t like seeing the ends to their rare, full group hangouts, but people are inevitably busy, and so with a heavy heart, he waves them off. Jihoon stays behind, after Woojin had suggested they spend the rest of their second vacation day ticking off things on their bucket list.

Woojin is already thoroughly planned for their wedding cake tasting, choosing two bakeries in the city that offer complimentary tastings and Jihoon in that moment kind of wants to  _thank_ him for the marriage. They discuss their fake getting together story on the way there, from their fateful meeting at their mutual friend’s bachelor party, to constantly being around each other in the same friend circle until it clicked (which, for the most part is all true, if you ignore the fact that the wedding already happened and there were no plans for a do-over in the near or even distant future.)

“We are scum.” Jihoon whispers against his ear before they make their way into the bakery.

“Yes, but we are hungry scum.”

Jihoon is, to put it most accurately, in heaven. Maybe it’s the angel food cake that takes him there, but it certainly feels like it’s true when the soft, fluffiness melts in his mouth. What takes his heart, however, is the fresh strawberry, so much that he almost embarrasses himself with how much he enjoys it. They try the frosting next, from Chocolate Buttercream, to Cream Cheese, and then Hazelnut and Cinnamon fillings.

By the time they’ve finished at the second bakery, Jihoon wonders where the time has gone, feeling immensely upset when they leave the store. Woojin chuckles at his pouting, poking at his cheeks. “You’d probably start to get sick of cake if we went for a third one, I think that was good enough.”

Jihoon nods sadly, “It was a dream I never wanted to wake up from though. You know what I have to go back to tomorrow? Whiny parents and puking children.”

Woojin grimaces at that last word, but pats his back comfortingly. “It’s okay. If you want, we could start our photoshoot tomorrow after work? It could be like a theme a day for the rest of the week.”

Jihoon rather likes the idea of having someone to spend time with after hours of draining work opposed to coming home to an empty apartment like he’d been doing for years, so he agrees. “Okay.”

 

* * *

  

Their first photoshoot is probably the definition of low budget, with Woojin’s little phone stand being set up just across the swing set on the playground next to Jihoon’s workplace. Woojin had suggested that they take some on the swings, holding hands and looking at each other like they were disgustingly in love.

It’s an evident struggle to get the timing right, with Woojin pressing the button and rushing to beat the timer. The first time, he misses the swing and falls on his butt onto the rocks and Jihoon’s wicked laughter follows him back to his phone for the second attempt. It takes four tries until they finally get it right, and even then, it’s only the first photo of that shoot.

Woojin bends over with his hands on his thighs, breathing heavily. “Wow, I never knew photography was physically draining.”

In every other photo they take at the playground, there’s one in each set that catches Woojin falling.

 

* * *

 

Their next shoot upgrades to a flower garden, now with a selfie stick after the first time had sapped Woojin of his stamina, not that it had taken anything more than a mere shred, considering the endless amount of energy the other had.

Jihoon had been the one to suggest the place, so he comes ready with flower crowns from the dollar store for their own use. These pictures are much more natural looking than the previous ones, and definitely cuter. Woojin had always had strong, sometimes even intimidating features on his face. But with his hair down, a ring of flowers on his head, and his light pink outfit, Jihoon realizes he has a cute side too.

He doesn’t say this out loud, but Woojin sure does have plans to make _him_ flustered. He tries not to go as red as the tulips when Woojin tells him he’s prettier than any of the flowers behind them.

(He fails.)

 

* * *

  

The two of them coincidentally run into Guanlin on their way to shooting their third set, and as the youngest of the three, he’d been subjected to comply with their wishes. (It’s not that he didn’t try to run away, but when he did, Woojin picked him up, threw him over his shoulders and kept him in place.)

They’d both gotten offer later than usual that night, so by the time they reached the little fountain, the sun was already beginning to set. As shameless as they could possibly be, they get into the fountain and deliver a number of unusual poses for Guanlin to capture, this seeming to be Woojin’s forte, and ending it with a duo heart.

Guanlin does end up looking like he’s enjoying himself watching them embarrass themselves in public, saying that it reminds him of the first night they met. “You know, when we finally found you, you were both sitting in a fountain.”

Woojin goes red at that, pushing Jihoon by the chest. “That’s your fault.”

 They do end up feeling bad for dragging Guanlin along against his will, so they treat him to bubble tea before they let him go home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jihoon likes his job. That fact is true on most days. He’s diligent and patient and knows how to keep his calm when things get rough. But today just happens to be one of those days—the getting out of bed against his will and wanting to set everything on fire kind of day. So when this kind of day is paired with a mountain of complaints from parents, the constant kicking and screaming of children, and a headache that’s practically eating him from the inside out, he’s in no mood to deal with the pestering of his coworkers or anyone for that matter.

And that’s why, when his co-worker Rowan, starts getting a little more touchy than usual, Jihoon wants nothing more than to scream until he backs off. But he’s needs be professional no matter the circumstance so he bites his tongue and deals with it, because at least he’s a minute away from his lunch break.

But it seems like lunch doesn’t have to be his savior today, because when he sees the girls behind the front desk turn their eyes behind him, Jihoon follows their line of sight and sees a familiar snaggletooth poking out at him warmly. It takes him a second later to notice what Woojin is wearing, which is an attire that Jihoon has never actually seen him in before, despite imagining it numerous times.

The suit fits him remarkably well, in fact, it fits him so well that Jihoon doesn’t realize he’s staring and nearly drooling until he’s right next to him. Rowan doesn’t seem to notice Woojin at first, doesn’t seem to pay attention to anyone other than himself, so it’s no surprise that his flirting doesn’t cease. That is until Woojin decides to sling an arm over his shoulder, pulling him up against his side, and greeting him sweetly. "Hi husband.”

“ _Husband_?” He hears multiple exclamations come from his side, but everyone else sort of filters out of his mind when Woojin’s familiar and pleasant scent reaches his nose.

He chuckles awkwardly under the scrutinizing of his coworkers, nudging Woojin towards the other side of the hall. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I was gonna text you to tell you I can’t do a photoshoot tonight, but since I was nearby I made the drive to visit you here.” Woojin gives him a once over, making Jihoon squirm with his little smirk. “Wow you look good in anything.”

Jihoon laughs softly, heat rising up his neck. “You say this as you come here in a whole suit.”

“I pull it off well, right?” Woojin smooths his tie down, pushing out his chest proudly.

Jihoon snorts, but nods in a rare act o feeding his ego. “Yeah, you do.”

“Jihoon!” A little girl, one of Jihoon patients, comes running up to them.  

Jihoon crouches down, “Emma, what are you doing up? I told you to rest.”

“Leila keeps screaming and asking for you.” She tugs at his sleeve, urging him to go with her. She seems to notice Woojin, with how different his outfit is from the rest of the people in the hospital. “Who’s that?”

He glances between Woojin and Emma, going to open his mouth to speak but Woojin beats him to it. “His husband.” Jihoon presses his fingers against his temples, shutting his eyes.

He can hear the frown in Emma’s voice before he sees it, “I thought you were gonna marry  _me_.”

Jihoon laughs, elbowing Woojin in the thigh. “Let’s go check on Leila, yeah?” Before he gets dragged away, he gives Woojin one more look. “I guess I’ll just call you later?”

Woojin nods with a smile, waving at him and Emma.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jihoon doesn’t know if it’s because he hasn’t spent much time at home lately, but he hadn’t actually noticed how full his fridge looks now, lined with rows and rows of photo strips from the numerous booths he and Woojin had come across, and scattered with their various wedding photos, which they had printed out two days ago and sent out to all of their friends. It’s crazy, how much has happened in the span of two weeks.

It’s the last Tuesday of the month when Jihoon gets the call, a message that was obviously going to come, but just did so quicker than he’d expected. He feels hollow for the remainder of the day, the pictures on his fridge suddenly bringing him unpleasant feelings.

Daehwi is on his side of the town to visit Jinyoung, so when Jihoon learns this, he makes plans with Woojin to come visit him, after he secures a ride with Daehwi on his way back home. He messages Woojin after stepping out of Daehwi’s car and waving him off. He sucks in a breath, unable to contain the something that stirs in him whenever goes to see Woojin. But this is different, a bittersweet kind of meeting. It’s their last night as a married couple, and Jihoon can't for the life of him figure out why it feels so strange.

He brings his hands together and interlocks his fingers as he walks into the lobby of the apartment, except there’s a weird feeling that overcomes him, frightfully. Something isn’t right.

Something is missing.

He’s not ready for the sheer agony he feels when he raises his hands and sees his bare ring finger, no signs of their ring. He looks around him, feeling lost and panicked. Had he just dropped it? How long has it been missing? He can’t remember when he’d last seen it, can’t be certain that he’d even seen it that entire day.

The walk up to Woojin’s unit is daunting, Jihoon drags his feet the whole way there, steps getting sluggish the closer he gets. For a long while, he can’t even bring his hand up to doorbell. In the end, he doesn’t have to, because Woojin is opening the door anyways, though he’s surprised to see him there. “Oh, there you are. You messaged me that you were downstairs a while ago, I was wondering what was taking you so long.”

Jihoon just gives him a thin smile, walking into the apartment with the sleeves of his cardigan hanging loose past his fingers, keeping his hands away from Woojin’s sight. He sits himself on the couch, but makes no move to pull up the readings for tomorrow’s conference on his laptop. Woojin drops into the couch just next to him, going into a lively retelling of the interesting day he had. Jihoon tries to do as best as he can to look okay, but when his eyes spot the ring on Woojin’s finger, he can’t do it. He leans back, head resting against the top of the couch.

He expects Woojin to overlook his silence as mere fatigue from work, but the younger turns to look at him when he can’t stop the heavy sigh that escapes his lips. “You okay?”

Jihoon wants to say yes. He wants to get that one stupid word out of his mouth but it burns against his tongue, forcing its way back down his throat because it’s a lie and he’s not. “I’m so stupid, this is so stupid..” Jihoon mumbles, doing his best to keep the tears in by keeping his head titled upwards.                

“Hey, tell me what’s wrong, please?” Woojin turns his full attention onto him and attempts to calm him down, reaching for his hand but Jihoon pulls away, wincing.

“I,” Jihoon swallows down the words, feeling pathetic for being so emotional about this but still being incredibly upset. “I lost the ring.”

Woojin softens at that, moving to kneel in front of him, gently pulling him forward and taking his face in his hands. “Are you crying over that?” He swipes a thumb over his cheek soothingly. “I’m sorry if I made you think I'd actually get mad at you for losing it, I didn’t mean to scare you with that rule.”

“I know, it’s just,” He pauses, holding the area of his finger where his ring is supposed to be. “I got so attached to the idea of it, and keeping it safe, and this isn’t even going to be a real marriage when this ends any day now but I’m still so fucking upset over this.”

Woojin shushes him, rubbing circles on his back. The younger sighs too, but his is filled with affection, just like the eyes looking up at him. “You know what, let me treat you out to dinner tonight. Your choice, anything you want.”

Jihoon frowns even harder, “But I broke the rule and lost the ring, it should be _me_ treating  _you_.”

Woojin shakes his head firmly, “Nope, nu-uh. It’s final, I’m taking you out to eat anything you want tonight, no arguments.”

Jihoon lets his head fall into his hands, “What was I doing before I met you?”

He hears the younger chuckle, then feels his finger lift his chin up to look back at him. “Waiting for someone like me to grace your life.” He puts his hands on his shoulders, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Now let’s go eat your expensive dinner.”

Woojin is a proper gentlemen for the night, a stark contrast from the energetic puppy he is the majority of the time. He takes him to a nice restaurant with a name he can’t pronounce, and pulls out his seat for him, urging him to eat whatever he likes on the menu tonight. Jihoon feels bad as he looks through the options, both amazed and guilty at Woojin’s willingness to let him order anything he pleases. So though he doesn’t try to go for an appetizer and pass it off as if he’s not that hungry, he does try very hard to take into consideration the price of what he chooses. After all, they're still trying to bounce back from the fees they had to pay to get the whole annulment situation up and going. Even if going out like this and treating themselves is rare, they still need to be smart with their money. 

The dispiritedness never really goes away, as much as he tries to push it to the back of his mind. And the waitress only adds salt to the wound when she tells them that tonight they have a discount special for married couples, and then notices the lack of ring on Jihoon's finger. Woojin gives her a compelling and believable story on how he'd been so upset that he lost their ring, and he was hoping to make him feel better with dinner, to which she had sympathized with him and wished them a happy marriage.

(At least they managed to finish their bucket list.)

Jihoon knows that they haven’t gotten to the important part of a conversation that needed to happen tonight. But it does take an immense amount of effort to expel the words. He puts his cutlery down, taking down some water before he can speak up. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t come here just to see you today.”

Woojin raises a brow, then pretends to take an arrow to his heart. “Ouch, are you here to hurt me, Park?”

Jihoon presses his lips in a hard line, wiping his hands on his pants. “Um, I got a call earlier at work today.” He starts, heart lodged in his throat. “It was the judge’s staff. The Decree was signed, and its ready for us to pick up and file tomorrow.”

He watches the subtle nuances that change Woojin’s careful expression, sees the tugs pulling the corners of his lips down, a fraction of the light leaving his eyes. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Jihoon breathes out in a whisper, starting to feel like his lungs are giving out, his hands gripping at the sides of his thighs.

A silence falls between them when neither of them know what to say. Woojin purses his lips, making small, non-committal sounds. “So..” He finally speaks, “We’re legally terminating it tomorrow.”

Jihoon nods slowly, plucking at the cuff of his shirt. “I mean, it’s what we need.”

“Right, yeah, of course.” Woojin agrees quickly, and they’re not really looking at each other, but he can see the younger’s feverish nodding from the corner of his eyes. “We just met, marriage is crazy.”

He wants to laugh, because at the beginning of this all, the entire situation seemed like a huge joke to him, a dream he couldn’t wake up from. And now, it kind of feels like an opportunity that’ll be hard to come by in the future, like this was the only taste he would ever get of it. “Exactly, this is for the better, we can’t stay like this.” He says, the words prickling at him. They couldn’t stay like this, that much he knows is true, but how much of it _could_ stay? Did Woojin want it to? Or is everything just meant to fizzle?

There’s a weird air that surrounds them all the way back to Woojin’s car, silence enveloping them once again as they sit in the front, hesitant to leave.

After a long while, Woojin takes in a deep breath, pulling his seatbelt over his chest. “So, am I taking you home?”

The jittery feelings start up again, his fingers fiddling in his lap with his restless heart. So little time still gives way for so much, and he can’t say he regrets anything at all. He’d leaped into this arrangement before he had the aftermath in sight without so much as a doubt, because he’d seen Woojin that night and decided that maybe it was worth it, to step into the unknown and let nature take its course.

He’s been so about himself for years, so focused and goal-driven. And then Woojin showed up, and taught him that it was okay to have fun, and to take breaks to care for himself. All of the what’s beens have passed, but he doesn’t want it to end here, he wants to grab onto the could be’s with the same boldness and tenacity that got him to where he is now. Something inside of him is telling him to take that courage and jump. So with that courage, he says, “Can I stay the night?”

Jihoon’s back hits the apartment door before it closes and Woojin's keys fall to the floor. The sound is satisfying, but not nearly as much as the one Woojin makes when he first gets a taste of him, slow and tentative, but none too patient. Woojin is every bit teasing, pulling away and giving more each time, chuckling low when he follows, chases after more. But Jihoon knows what he wants and what he wants he gets, pulling him closer and  _demanding_ more.

When the younger pulls back to catch his breath, Jihoon, with his half-lidded eyes, searches Woojin’s own. “Are we breaking rule five right now?” He asks in a whisper, so gentle that it barely makes it past his lips.

He hears Woojin swallow, eyes dropping down to the younger’s lips as his tongue darts out to wet them, and then a soft sigh passing them. “Yeah,” Woojin answers lowly, hoarsely. “We are.”

They meet again, with the same subdued intensity. His nimble fingers traipse down Woojin’s chest, at an agonizing pace that slows with their lips. For all that they are silly in the day, in the night they move elegantly, touching with rhythm in obscured silence, bodies melting together in a trance.

Jihoon plunges into ecstasy, surface beauty that goes deeper, and deeper, the tide rushing in and over. Woojin’s sheets lap at their waists, slow sliding against his skin. He’s completely lost in the waves, but Woojin anchors them, and Jihoon lets their heartbeats ground him.

And then they sizzle, into greater flames, sparking a light and igniting a raging fire. A burning orange against the calm blues that glow in from the curtains, giving color to the pale walls. Jihoon lets the flames engulf him.

They’re in the now, in this moment, in these seconds, trying to make the night last.

 

 

* * *

  

 

Jihoon’s heart feels as heavy as his mind does light, walking away from the clerk’s office, with what was once his life’s most troublesome predicament now a thing of the past. Woojin turns to him as they’ve left the building, conflict written over his face as he looks to be deciding on whether to settle on confusion or relief.

“Don’t look so uneasy.” Jihoon tells him, knocking his shoulder against Woojin’s. “The marriage had to end, but this,” He gestures between the both of them, “definitely doesn’t.”  

The younger unwinds slightly, nodding. “This might be too soon since we just ended our marriage and all,” Jihoon can’t help but laugh, and Woojin can’t stop a short snicker of his own at his words. “But I’d like to keep getting to know you, if you’re okay with that.”

“I’d like that.” Jihoon finally relaxes into a smile, and Woojin returns it with the same amount of sincerity and relief. “Plus, we still have to decide the punishment for the both of us breaking rule number five.”

Woojin breaks into a lop-sided grin, humming in agreement. “You’re right, can’t let that one off the hook.”

Jihoon feels fondness take over him, sighing contently. “Let’s take it slower this time, yeah?”

“I think you’ve already seen too much of me for that.” Woojin jokes, placing his arms in an X over his chest. Jihoon groans, pushing him away, but soon dissolving into laughter as they walk away and start anew.

So in the end, in spite of it all, Jihoon knows he doesn’t regret a thing. Nothing could quite compare to the experience he’s had in the past two weeks, but Jihoon knows that with this turning point, there could only be more amazing things to come.

Their meeting was like a newly formed garden of lilacs, purple from the blues of his honesty and the reds of Woojin’s passion. A garden that he wanted to nurture and help grow to the best of its ability. And bees could take their pollen to new places, to new people, and let them flourish too.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't originally plan for this to be as long as it is but for things to flow better, the word count ended up like this, and thus the feeling of it being rushed? i apologize for the lacklustre quality, i tried very hard but things got super busy so i'm not too sure about how this ended up, though i do hope this was okay! happy holidays <3


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